Louis Têtu: Why Canada has to get artificial intelligence right

Canada will either build an owner’s and adopter’s economy or be relegated to a subcontracting branch of the global AI ecosystem, writes Louis Têtu. Photo by Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press files

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This past week, Canada’s AI Strategy Task Force gave Ottawa a set of recommendations to shape our country’s approach to artificial intelligence. This isn’t just another policy discussion; it’s about Canada’s economic future, and the stakes could not be higher.

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AI is poised to create the most significant competitive divide of the past two centuries. More than industrialization, automation, or robotics. The coming quantum leap in productivity will be so significant that the world will quickly divide between those who adopt AI and those who don’t. There will be no middle ground.

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To put it bluntly: We will either build an owner’s and adopter’s economy or be relegated to a subcontracting branch of the global AI ecosystem.

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The case for speed

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The evidence for moving quickly is overwhelming.

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A study for Forum IA Québec found that if the province significantly increased AI adoption, its GDP could grow by as much as 14 per cent by 2035. An Accenture report forecasted that by 2030, generative AI could deliver $180 billion in annual productivity benefits to Canada.

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Yet today, fewer than 1 in 10 Canadian companies classify their AI adoption as advanced.

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This is more than just about automation and efficiency, doing more. It’s about proficiency: every person doing more on their own, augmented with greater capability. That’s why Canadian companies need to move beyond pilot and science projects and focus on driving real business outcomes. Our standard of living depends on it.

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The need to industrialize AI at scale across Canada

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Canada’s contribution to the science of AI is undeniable. Our country pioneered foundational AI research and today 10 per cent of the world’s top-tier AI researchers are here in Canada, the second-highest concentration of any country. Yet, we have failed to monetize these contributions.

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For Canada to reap the benefits of a technology it helped create, we must focus on applied AI, the most effective way of ushering in the industrialization of AI.

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This approach rests on the development of a sovereign domestic infrastructure that is not isolationist. A national AI grid that is accessible to all and designed to be actionable, scalable, fast, and repeatable. In short, a utility that every business, every SMB, every research institution, every hospital and every government department can plug into and use.

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Think of it as the vast railroad network Canada built more than 150 years ago. At the time, we did not imagine the prosperity that would unleash. But we knew that Canada would not be the nation it is today if the railroad was built by foreign interests. We understood that authority over innovative infrastructure was control over our economic destiny.

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Today, with artificial intelligence, Canada stands at a similar pivotal moment in its history. The infrastructure we control — or fail to control — will determine Canada’s economic future.

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Adoption, talent, procurement

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But infrastructure alone won’t drive transformation. As a country, we also need to spark adoption across the economy; double-down the top talent that will help Canadian companies implement AI to create competitiveness and value for Canadians.